Vincent Kompany has been far from his best for City
Whether the head-shaking reaction to this defeat of City chief executive Ferran Soriano was significant remains to be seen but the spectre of Pep Guardiola continues to loom large over the Etihad Stadium.
When City's demanding Abu Dhabi hierarchy conduct their end of season review, the key factor is whether the team's performance has improved on the previous campaign.
And unless there is a significant upturn in the last three months, it has to be said City have gone backwards with Pellegrini admitting after the defeat at Anfield he has "a lot of problems."
If retrieving a 2-1 home leg deficit to Barcelona in the Champions League is not daunting enough, there is now the prospect of having to claw back an eight-point deficit on Chelsea if they are to retain their Premier League title - providing that is that Jose Mourinho's team win their game in hand against basement club Leicester.
Anfield remains the only Premier League stadium where City have not won in since the Abu Dhabi take-over in 2008. As bogey grounds go, it is right up there as City's worst - just two victories in 56 years.
But yesterday was arguably their best chance to end that dismal record considering that Liverpool had little more than 48 hours to recover from the arduous Europa League trip to Turkey.
Manchester City title bid still on - Manuel Pellegrini
Vincent Kompany's blunders continued when he was robbed by Coutinho in the build-up to Jordan Henderson's magnificent first goal.
The Merseysiders, however, looked livelier and hungrier from start to finish. And Pellegrini's insistence on playing a 4-4-2 system again left City outnumbered and outpaced in midfield and their back four exposed.
After being given a midweek run around by Barca's exalted front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, yesterday City struggled against another fleet-footed triumvirate in Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana.
Vincent Kompany's blunders continued when he was robbed by Coutinho in the build-up to Jordan Henderson's magnificent first goal.
To be fair on the City skipper, he is often having to step out of the line to make challenges on opponents that he could reasonably expect from midfield pair Yaya Toure and Fernandinho. The vulnerability of back four partner Eliaquim Mangala or the lack of pace of full-backs Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksander Kolarov is also a worry.
City got themselves back in the game thanks, Sergio Aguero striking the post and then setting up Edin Dzeko for a well-worked and well-taken equaliser.
But Dzeko's strike proved to be City's only effort on target in the entire game and their lack-lustre second half performance will be a big cause for concern for Pellegrini, although his side could do little about Coutinho's magnificent second goal.
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